K1 Visa Milligan v Pompeo Lawsuit

[DanNJ02 19]

Has anyone from a country that doesn't currently have travel bans joined this lawsuit, or joined an individual lawsuit with the same law firm, and had success?

 

I ask because the Bogotá embassy website mentions presidential proclamation 10014 as one of the reasons they're not processing some  Immigrant visas.

 

Meanwhile Bogotá is processing visas for appointments that had been canceled early last year, but no non-emergency cases have been sent from the NVC.

[David and Anna 118]

On 2/4/2021 at 11:32 AM, JeanneAdil said:

i haven't seen anyone post that they were in lawsuit and have had an interview here on VJ

Did i miss something?

or were these people already in line for an interview? 

anyone know?

most of the people in the first lawsuit group gave up on VJ and either never did, or stopped posting here.  As of now, all but 6 of the original 198 (iirc) plaintiffs have either moved to the USA, gotten the visa or have an interview scheduled.  The 6 difficult cases are in non-proclamation countries (meaning not travel banned) and those cases are not moving for their own unique reasons (AP and other reasons).  

 

To directly answer your question, I am a VJ member and we were in the first group.  We got very prompt and kind assistance from our embassy right after we sent them the email informing them of the judge's order back around December 1.  They made a special interview slot for us and we had our visa two weeks later.  There are over 100 similar cases that I follow in our private group. (fwiw, before the lawsuit, I had my congressperson try to get me an expedite, I tried 2x myself.  We were denied each time.

 

Put simply, the lawsuit worked. (clearly for proclamation countries, which is why the new 3rd group is only from those countries).  To be complete, there were many plaintiffs in group 1 that were not in proclamation countries.  The government has processed nearly all of those visas also (see the "mooting" strategy below).

 

The proclamation countries are still (even under Biden) not processing K-1s (except for literally less than a dozen or 2 emergencies over the past 8+ months that I've seen).  The judge has ruled that not processing K-1's in the proclamation countries is *illegal*.  (in fact 3 judges have ruled that).  Thus far the government has decided to only apply that judge's decision to the plaintiffs.  As part of their legal strategy, as our lawyers predicted, the government moved to moot the cases (meaning process the visas so there is no reason to sue) in order to get this suit to go away. There is a lot of detail behind the case and the strategy, and non-members are not privy to it.  But that doesn't seem to keep them from having strong uniformed opinions.

Edited February 6, 2021 by David and Anna

[David and Anna 118]

On 2/4/2021 at 11:55 AM, stuckonyou said:

You might be able to. I'm not sure about the exact rules, though, so you might want to look that up, but I've heard about similar cases being expedited for emergency appointments and even getting National Interest exemptions to travel to the US directly from a travel banned country.

 

If you join the lawsuit there are currently no National Interest exemptions and you would be required to go to a non banned country for two weeks.

 

Do you mean that your file is not at the NVC yet? Do you have your NOA2?

 

You can only join the lawsuit if you have gotten the NOA2 as it's only for people at the NVC or embassy stages.

Many of the plaintiff's received NIE's.  Some for medical reasons, some didn't even ask.  I begged our embassy for an NIE and didn't get it. So its simply untrue to say "no NIEs" for the plaintiffs.  The judge did not order NIEs for all, but I'd estimate around 20% have gotten them.  Many of the plaintiffs were not in proclamation countries, so they were able to travel straight to the USA.  The majority of them are already in the USA.

[David and Anna 118]

On 2/4/2021 at 2:27 PM, JeanneAdil said:

That is the site i use to see all the visas issued from all embassies 

and the ones issued can be from  those who have been in long AP and interviewed before the covid crisis and/or the lawsuit

what i have not seen is anyone here on VJ say "we were in the lawsuit and now have had our interview and visa issued "

once again, I'm sure you didn't, but I believe I posted here when we got our interview.  And, to repeat, given the odd and disappointing reaction here on VJ to the first news of the lawsuit oppty, many of the plaintiffs that were on this site stopped coming here.  And the vast majority of the plaintiffs were never on this site.

[David and Anna 118]

On 2/4/2021 at 5:07 PM, StellaGB1 said:

No, you can still join the lawsuit. I don’t really know what he’s trying to say to be honest, that’s why it’s so confusing. It’s a tweet from Jeff Joseph 

it is somewhat confusingly written.  Twitter is a terrible communication method.

 

He is trying to help people understand what "unreasonable delay" means.  He is trying to say 6 months delay by Government stds is not unreasonable and thus don't expect a judge to order the gov to process your visa merely because six months have passed.  The Mandamus claims (google) are not being dealt with by the judge...yet.

[David and Anna 118]

7 hours ago, DanNJ02 said:

Has anyone from a country that doesn't currently have travel bans joined this lawsuit, or joined an individual lawsuit with the same law firm, and had success?

 

I ask because the Bogotá embassy website mentions presidential proclamation 10014 as one of the reasons they're not processing some  Immigrant visas.

 

Meanwhile Bogotá is processing visas for appointments that had been canceled early last year, but no non-emergency cases have been sent from the NVC.

yes, there were many non-ban country plaintiffs in the first group of the lawsuit.  Most of them have gotten movement.  There are 6 cases where the country is just refusing to process or move the case to another country. One of those was Peru.  I don't recall anything about Columbia.  Talk to one of the attorneys.

[David and Anna 118]

Imho, the decision as to whether to join the third group in the lawsuit should be based on the following:

 

1)  Are you at NVC or the embassy?  If yes, then keep going down this list

2)  Are you at a travel banned country?  If yes, then keep going down this list

3)  Do you have $2000 that you can afford to spend on this opportunity?  If yes, then keep going down this list

4)  Do you think Biden will keep illegally using the travel ban to prohibit K-1 visa issuance?  If yes, keep going down this list

5)  Even if Biden does do the right thing (or if the Judge orders the gov to process all K-1s), do you believe there will be a significant delay in K-1 processing due to the huge backlog that has been created during the past many months of near zero visa's being issued?  If yes, keep going down the list

6) At this point, you meet the criteria, you have the money, and you think your visa will be delayed one way or the other = JOIN THE LAWSUIT

 

The only way you regret it is if Biden or the Judge orders the Dept of State to stop acting illegally and process K-1s soon.  In that case then maybe the benefit of being in the lawsuit isn't as great.  HOWEVER, there is a possibility that the plaintiffs will still get priority even in that instance (despite what is written on the DoS website, the plaintiffs have most certainly gotten priority recently in both banned and non-banned countries).  For those that wonder why that would be, its to do with the "mooting" strategy that the government often deploys in these types of cases.  They do not want the lawsuit to go on and that means they often decide to process the visas and then there is no reason for the lawsuit to continue, so it is dismissed.  That strategy "might" still be used once the K-1 floodgates open for all.  Don't take what I'm saying here as 100%.  I am speculating about this last part.  But, if I were considering joining the lawsuit, that is a question I would ask the lawyers for clarity on.

[callmeshelle 15]

I received my NOA2 in Jan and my fiance lives in China. Ive been waiting for them to announce new applicants. I was so happy to email the Siskind and to get an email hours later Round 3 was open. I sent everything without hesitation. With the progress Ive seen from the other plaintiffs, Im sure he’ll be here soon! 
Im desperate and will try anything. I just turned 26. My dad died from covid. Im still in nursing school. I have to manage his businesses he left behind. I would do anything to bring him here sooner so I wont be alone. 

[StellaGB1 29]

7 hours ago, David and Anna said:

it is somewhat confusingly written.  Twitter is a terrible communication method.

 

He is trying to help people understand what "unreasonable delay" means.  He is trying to say 6 months delay by Government stds is not unreasonable and thus don't expect a judge to order the gov to process your visa merely because six months have passed.  The Mandamus claims (google) are not being dealt with by the judge...yet.

But it doesn’t mean that you have to wait 6 months at NVC to see any movement on your case if you join the lawsuit correct? That’s what people are concerned about regarding the tweet. If you’re a plaintiff you can try to push your case along once you’ve got your case number from NVC, am I understanding that correctly? 

[OlgaA 67]

6 hours ago, callmeshelle said:

I received my NOA2 in Jan and my fiance lives in China. Ive been waiting for them to announce new applicants. I was so happy to email the Siskind and to get an email hours later Round 3 was open. I sent everything without hesitation. With the progress Ive seen from the other plaintiffs, Im sure he’ll be here soon! 
Im desperate and will try anything. I just turned 26. My dad died from covid. Im still in nursing school. I have to manage his businesses he left behind. I would do anything to bring him here sooner so I wont be alone. 

I hope you will meet with your love soon! 🌺

[stuckonyou 75]

4 hours ago, StellaGB1 said:

But it doesn’t mean that you have to wait 6 months at NVC to see any movement on your case if you join the lawsuit correct? That’s what people are concerned about regarding the tweet. If you’re a plaintiff you can try to push your case along once you’ve got your case number from NVC, am I understanding that correctly? 

I think that this wouldn't matter at all since round 3 is only for couples in travel banned countries. I think the 6 months is more about the unreasonable delay part. But even if your case is not "unreasonably delayed" it should still move because it's illegal to not process the visas due to the travel ban. I hope that makes sense.

[David and Anna 118]

6 hours ago, StellaGB1 said:

But it doesn’t mean that you have to wait 6 months at NVC to see any movement on your case if you join the lawsuit correct? That’s what people are concerned about regarding the tweet. If you’re a plaintiff you can try to push your case along once you’ve got your case number from NVC, am I understanding that correctly? 

No, that's not what it means.  You have to understand that there are two claims in the lawsuit:

1)  That the DoS has illegally stopped adjudicating visas in the Proclamation countries

2)  That the DoS is unreasonably delaying all K-1s.

 

The first claim is the only one that the judge has ruled on.  Thus they are only accepting new plaintiffs that are in proclamation countries.  Those cases are moving for prior plaintiffs now regardless of how long they were delayed.

The second claim is tougher and usually the courts require significant delay before they will order the DoS to adjudicate a visa.  That is what Jeff was trying to tell potential plaintiffs.  That 6 months is not enough to compel the judge to order the DoS to process your visa.  

 

You don't have to win both claims to get your visa processed.  If you are in a proclamation country, the government has (thus far) been willing to process those plaintiffs' visas.

[Deehotstepper 230]

$2,000 is surely worth it to be with your Fiancé especially being there is no official word on when they will resume processing K-1 visas at the consulates plus there is alot of back log from last year March of K-1 cases to catch up on and schedule interviews so it might be a long time especially if the consulates are still working with reduced staff. 

I wish Nigeria was one of the countries listed, I would join the lawsuit tonight. Does anyone know if it is possible to join this lawsuit if you are not from one of the COVID banned countries but your case is stuck at NVC  for months now?

[brandon stone 9]

9 hours ago, Deehotstepper said:

$2,000 is surely worth it to be with your Fiancé especially being there is no official word on when they will resume processing K-1 visas at the consulates plus there is alot of back log from last year March of K-1 cases to catch up on and schedule interviews so it might be a long time especially if the consulates are still working with reduced staff. 

I wish Nigeria was one of the countries listed, I would join the lawsuit tonight. Does anyone know if it is possible to join this lawsuit if you are not from one of the COVID banned countries but your case is stuck at NVC  for months now?

This round is only for countries that are a part of the banned list. I believe the judge will visit the case later to see if this decision should apply to all K1 visas if there is more delay. For now, it’s just those. 

[S&Pro 29]

10 hours ago, Deehotstepper said:

$2,000 is surely worth it to be with your Fiancé especially being there is no official word on when they will resume processing K-1 visas 

I wish Nigeria was one of the countries listed, I would join the lawsuit tonight.

Same! Especially with Still Zero information or updates of what their plans is for K-1s. I was really hoping the change of Administration would make some kind of differnce in the complete lack of information,  but doesn't seem too promise as each day goes by and the focus is just on illegal immigration.